It's that time of year again, and I've got the travel bug! The adventures will begin with the whole family in Vietnam and Cambodia. After my dad flies home, my ma, sister, and I will explore the beaches of Thailand. Then, my sister and I are let loose to roam Southeast Asia heading towards Nepal and northern India. Mid April I fly to Zambia to volunteer for a month at Appeased School before starting work in San Francisco. Ready or not, HERE I COME!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Island of love...

Santorini. The first 5 hours I was there I had already seen two weddings!

Wow, this is the most English I have heard so far! It’s a
beautiful island, but damn, there’s a lot of tourists! I stayed at Cavelands
Hostel which was absolutely beautiful! There was a pool and roof top hang out.
I loved it! After checking in the first day, I went to lunch at a local
restaurant. We went to the same place I had asked for directions earlier. After
lunch, I asked the owner where I could find an ATM. Instead of simple
directions, he hopped me on the back of his dirt bike and took me there! I have
never been so scared! These people are CRAZY drivers. I yi yi, survived that
one!

At about 5 pm, we started our 3 hour adventure from our
hostel (25 minutes away from Fira) to Oia. Oia is the “postcard” area of
Santorini. The hike took you along the coast through little towns. There were
awesome views in every direction! The best sight occurred when we were on our
last hill leading up to a church. When we approached the top, we had a view of
Oia with the sea behind it. We trekked into the town and bought beers to enjoy the
famous Santorini sunset.

The next day was a lazy day. I enjoyed myself by the
pool, explored a little in Fira, watched the sunset and ate dinner in Oia. We
were a group of eight from the hostel and did that make me grateful to be
traveling on my own (or at least with only a few ppl earlier)! We were losing
people left and right; it was complete chaos!

Well shit. This morning I missed my bus. I was there on
time, but there was confusion between which bus and I ended up just getting a
taxi. 10 Euros and a good conversation was a small price to pay in the scheme
of things. The taxi driver asked if I was from Australia and I had to ask why
he picked aussi land. He told me he normally doesn’t see Americans traveling
alone. I felt very independent. Before I stated Greece, I thought it would be
hard to find others to hang out with, but almost everyone at our hostel was
traveling alone too.

No one drinks tap water here. The tap is very salty and you
can tell it after doing laundry. Your clothes are crunchy! Not even the locals
will drink it. Instead they use cistern and catch rainwater.

I have found that I really enjoy couchsurfing when you are
with someone. That way if the host is busy, you have someone to do activities
with. Though, traveling alone, I prefer hostels because it’s so easy to meet
people who are doing the same thing. This hostel had a great environment, and I
made connections with so many people.

Travel Tip #?

If you have the means to do so, a smart phone, iPad, iPod,
act. always take a picture of the bus or ferry schedule. It is so handy to have
that with you and to look at it later! Though in Greece, the buses don’t always
run by the schedule so you just have to hope things work out.